The Best Way: How To Cook Chicken Sausage In Air Fryer
Air frying chicken sausages isn't just healthy and delicious - it creates perfectly crispy outside, juicy inside results. Want to know how to cook perfect chicken sausages in your air fryer? Let's master these practical tips.
How do you cook chicken sausage in an air fryer?
If the chicken sausag is frozen, first make sure the sausage comes to room temperature. Use kitchen paper to dry the moisture on the surface. If you want the sausage to be more flavorful, you can gently make a few shallow cuts on the surface, but be careful not to cut too deeply.
Here are the specific steps:
Preheat the air fryer at 180℃ for 3 minutes. Place the sausages flat in the frying basket without stacking them. Adjust the temperature to 190℃ and fry for 8 minutes first. Then open the air fryer, turn the sausages over, and fry for another 5 - 7 minutes. The specific frying time depends on the thickness of the sausage. Subtract 2 minutes for thinner sausages and add 2 minutes for thicker ones.
During frying, pull out the frying basket and shake it twice to ensure even heating. If you like a smoky flavor, sprinkle some paprika before frying. Don't eat the sausage immediately after frying. Let it stand for 1 minute, and it will become firmer. It goes great with pickled cucumbers or roasted vegetables. I've also tried adding honey mustard sauce, and it tastes amazing.
Should you pierce chicken sausage before air frying?
Piercing the sausage is the safest method, especially for novice cooks. This step is mainly to release the steam that accumulates inside during heating, avoiding the sudden rupture of the casing, which could cause juice to spurt out or the meat to shrink and deform. Especially for types with a thinner casing, they are more likely to burst when heated.
If it's a pre - cooked sausage bought from the supermarket (such as a smoked one), piercing holes can help it heat up faster, and the outer skin won't be overly taut. Special attention should be paid to raw sausages because the minced meat inside is likely to expand when it's not yet cooked.
When piercing holes, you don't need to go too deep. Just pierce the outer skin. This way, it can let air out without allowing too much juice to run out.
However, if you like an especially crispy outer skin of the sausage, you can also try not piercing holes, but you need to observe the state more often during the process. For thicker sausages, I would pierce them again in the last two minutes to ensure the center is cooked through.
Should I preheat the air fryer before cooking chicken sausage?
It's best to preheat the air fryer, as this will make the outer skin crispier. I've tried both methods. Without preheating, the part closer to the heating tube is likely to burn, and you need to flip the sausage more frequently in the middle.
Here's the specific operation:
Just let the air fryer run empty at 180℃ for 3 - 5 minutes. While preheating, take the sausage out of the refrigerator to come to room temperature to avoid a large temperature difference affecting the taste. If you're in a hurry and don't preheat, increase the total cooking time by 3 minutes. Set the temperature to 170℃ in the first five minutes to prevent burning.
Putting the sausage into the preheated air fryer can quickly form a crispy skin, and the effect of locking in the meat juice is better. Recently, when I fried chicken sausage with garlic cloves using the preheating method, the surface was evenly golden and bubbly, and the taste was significantly more full - bodied than when not preheating.
Do I need to turn chicken sausage while cooking in the air fryer?
Flipping is indeed necessary, especially when the sausages are placed closely together or vary in thickness.
Although the hot air in the air fryer circulates, the side closer to the bottom of the frying basket is more directly exposed to the heat source, and it is easy for one side to become charred and tough. I usually quickly pull out the frying basket when it has been baked for half of the total time and use tongs to flip each sausage. In this way, a uniform crispy skin can form on both sides.
If you are using a model with a rotating and stirring function, theoretically, you don't need to flip it manually. However, in actual tests, it was found that the finished product has more beautiful coloring when flipped manually. When flipping, adjust the position of the sausages by moving the ones originally in the middle to the edge because the temperature at the edge of some air fryers is slightly lower.
How do you know when chicken sausage is fully cooked?
Use a kitchen thermometer to insert into the thickest part. When the temperature reaches above 74 degrees Celsius, it is fully cooked.
If you don't have a thermometer, it is recommended to cut into the middle position after the baking time is over and observe. If the meat has completely turned into a uniform light brown color, there is no pink raw - meat color, and the juice is clear instead of cloudy, it indicates that the sausage is cooked.
Another way is to observe the state of the casing: The surface of a fully cooked sausage will shrink and wrinkle slightly. When gently pressed with tongs, it feels firm and elastic, not soft and floppy. If it is a pre - cooked smoked - flavored sausage, when the casing partly bursts and the edges are slightly charred, it is usually cooked enough.
Are chicken sausage better in oven or air fryer?
Based on my personal experience: Frozen sausages are less likely to dry out when cooked in an air fryer. However, if the sausage has a sweet sauce (such as honey - garlic flavor), slow - roasting in the oven can make it more flavorful. Both the air fryer and the oven have their own advantages, and it mainly depends on what kind of result you want:
Advantages of choosing an air fryer:
The outer skin is crispier, similar to the effect of frying or grilling. It is suitable for cooking 1 - 4 sausages.
It saves time. Usually, it is 5 - 8 minutes faster than using an oven.
It retains the meat juice better (because of the shorter cooking time).
I basically use it when I want a midnight snack. It's quick and easy.
Advantages of choosing an oven:
It can roast more than 10 sausages at a time, which is suitable for gatherings.
The heating is more even, and there is no need to flip the sausages frequently.
It is suitable for sausages coated with breadcrumbs or sauce (the hot air in the air fryer may easily blow off the outer layer).
If you line the baking pan with aluminum foil, it is easier to clean.
